It's hard not to bond with your birthplace, even if you were so young when you left it you really have no recollection of it.
But Nathan M Wright definitely knows where he came from - Newcastle.
The subject was the first topic in our interview during the hectic first day of rehearsal for the Trafalgar Entertainment's production of The Rocky Horror Show, which kicked off an extensive 2024 run in Australia at the Civic Theatre last weekend.
Wright is the only "originating creative" involved with the show to be on hand for the opening of this new Australian run. His CV as a dancer and choreographer is lengthy, and this is his 13th production of Rocky.
"I was born here, definitely," he says.
"I rang my dad yesterday. I don't usually tell my parents much and they get quite frustrated by that. And I said, 'they're doing an article on me tomorrow' and my dad said, 'oh, you should take them back to the house'. And I said, 'let's calm down dad. Let's not get too carried away'."
The Wrights lived in Wallsend.
"I don't remember much about growing up here, because we moved to Papua New Guinea when I was quite young," Wright says.
"But it's really lovely to be back, and I've invited family friends that I haven't seen in 20 years to the show on Saturday night. So it's really lovely."
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The Civic Theatre is abuzz with technicians testing sound and lights. The wig handler is tending to her 34 pieces, the wardrobe has been unpacked in the backstage "war room". The first rehearsal of the assembled cast of 14 begins in one hour. And the stage manager is politely but firmly managing us around the organised chaos.
Wright finds us a quiet table in the Civic Theatre bar for a short chat to be followed by a photo op (that's been arranged with great attention to detail).
"The last time I was in this building was 22 years ago when I performed in it, Wright says. "So to come back all of these years later, to have a show that I've created, it's quite surreal. It's [Newcastle] changed a lot.
"I'm staying at the Crystalbrook, I went up to Level 9 last night and it's the most amazing view."
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Wright's memory of Newcastle from 22 years ago was an unforgettable moment for him. He was a cast member in David Atkins touring production of Hot Shoe Shuffle, an Australian-made tap-dancing musical hit.
"It is the hardest show I've ever done. It really was," Wright says.
"Because it was purely based on skillset - there was no automation, hydraulics. All the entertainment, I suppose everything you were watching, was live in front of you. You had to use your complete skillset to get through the show. It is without a doubt still the greatest show I've ever done.
"I haven't performed in a very long time, and I've loved every show I've ever performed in, but Hot Shoe will always remain the one."
Of course, dance remains a constant in Wright's life and career, even though choreography is his occupation these days.
"I still dance when I teach everything," he says.
"Obviously I'm getting older in the years. I still think I'm 20 when I'm dancing, and that's a nice thing to have.
"I'm still very physical in that way and I still dance a lot. But just not eight shows a week - those days are in the past."
Wright has hit the ground running with this tour. Four days before the cast and crew arrived in Newcastle, he was already rehearsing the show with the four new cast members in Sydney.
He is in daily contact with the show's director, Chris Luscombe, who is in London.
Luscombe has been producing Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show for 18 years, including five seasons at the West End in London and tours all around the world, including Europe, UK and Australia.
While Rocky has been going strong for 50 years, part of the reason for its continued success is the constant attention to consistency, detail and, if you will, creativity.
Wright says every production of Rocky Horror Show is a little bit different, by intention.
"It has to be," he says. "Rocky is a show that's still being unveiled, I believe.
"After 50 years, there's always something you can get from Rocky. And it's always based on the company you have. It's such a unique company - 14 people. And it's really based on their skillset.
"And every time it's adapted, it's heightened.
"I feel that's a wonderful thing to be part of, that it's not, 'this is what we did last time so this is what we're doing this time'.
"Obviously the general set-up, and the bones and the brains are still the show. But I just rehearsed the show last week with four new crew members. And just being in the room with them, I changed things on the spot. 'Actually, I love that, let's do this here'.
"Even though it's a continuation of the 50th anniversary show we opened this time last year in Sydney, it's going to have new things in it that people have not seen before in terms of my staging, anyway."
The close relationship between Luscombe and Wright tears down the tyranny of distance in terms of communication.
"We speak every day on the phone after rehearsals and I send him videos, saying, 'this thought came to me today in the room, what do you think?' 'Oh I love that, let's put that in'.
"So it's still very much a collaborative process. I haven't been given a free rein.
"It's still very much a collaborative process even though we're not physically together. This is my 13th production of Rocky with Chris and it's the first time I've ever done it without him. So I was a bit nervous going into that process without him because I'm so used to ... we have each other. So this is the first time I've been here on my own."
One of the key ways of communicating is by video, taken from rehearsals.
"I would have filmed, like, 10 videos last week and he [Luscombe] responds to all of them," Wright says.
"And that's what we've been doing. And it's important to me that he very much feels a part of the process, just because he's not here physically. And we know the show so well, it's easy to have a dialogue about that."
The changes are as small as which way a dancer turns, or how long a soloist holds their position at the end of a song - serious fans of the show, particularly in its home country of the UK, are very aware of even the smallest adjustments.
There is also a resident director and resident choreographer with the show, to keep it on track. If that makes it feel like nothing is left to chance, then that's certainly the intention.
The stage manager Ethan Shepherd ended his position on the musical Mamma Mia in mid-December and two days later he started working on this Rocky Horror Show tour. He is in constant motion with the team - rehearsals, timing, props, music and musicians, sound, lighting, and a hundred other unseen, small but important details.
Nothing is left to chance.
Which is why Wright can afford to be at the cutting edge, making minute adjustments to the show, to keep it alive and relevant. The franchise hasn't lasted 50 years with a deep fanbase that rivals a sporting franchise by being stale. Quite the opposite, the little things count.
"We want to continually make the show fresh for audiences and the fans of Rocky Horror," Wright says.
"For people who have seen it multiple times we always want them to get something new out of the show."
Wright's enthusiasm never wanes. As a choreographer, he's been involved in Olympic Games ceremonies, Baz Luhrmann movies, and numerous stage productions around the world. But his appreciation for Rocky is steadfast.
"There is a reason that Rocky Horror has been going for 50 years, because it connects to people," he says.
"And now it's a new generation. I hope it's going in 50 more years."
